


An Old War Buddy

by BlueLightningAndNexus



Series: Marvel + DC Combined Universe [2]
Category: DCU (Comics), Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Marvel, Wolverine (Comics)
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Superheroes, Supervillains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25694971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLightningAndNexus/pseuds/BlueLightningAndNexus
Summary: Jason Wyngarde, better known to the X-Men as the villain Mastermind, hires Slade Wilson to take out a rather special clinet.
Series: Marvel + DC Combined Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055438
Kudos: 2





	An Old War Buddy

Jason Wyngarde approached the hut with a sense of caution. The cold air nipped at his exposed face, and the howling wind echoed throughout the valley and forests. 

Jason--better known to his adversaries as “Mastermind,” a title he had grown rather fond of in recent years--was never particularly fond of the cold, and here at the American-Canadian border his frustration only grew as he felt his ears and face going numb. But he had a mission, one that needed to be fulfilled. 

When he entered the cabin, he found his colleague, Slade Wilson, sitting next to the empty fire pit. The globally-feared assassin was wearing a light flannel, a t-shirt underneath, and a pair of filthy jeans. “Aren’t you cold?” Wyngarde asked automatically. 

“I don’t get cold,” was Slade’s response. 

Jason raised an eyebrow. Slade stood up, meeting the mutant’s gaze. “I come here to decompress a bit, after a big job. I don’t like having to meet with clients here.”

Wyngarde made a face. “Yes, of course, but this is rather urgent.”

Slade grunted. Wyngarde continued. “An old adversary of mine has resurfaced. I’ve been told you’re the sort of guy who can take care of him.”

Wyngarde handed over an envelope. Slade took it, eyeing the man suspiciously, and opened it up. Inside were collections of photos dated as late as a century ago, as early as the prior week. 

“His name is James Howlett, but these days he goes by Logan,” Wyngarde said, as Slade spread the photos out across the table. “You might also know him as Wolverine. He’s been--”

“I know him,” Slade said. Pouring himself a glass of whiskey, he examined one of the photos, dated 1972. “We served together, in ‘nam. He’s a tough sonofabitch.”

Slade was his commanding officer during the final stretches of his war. Hell, Logan probably even knew Adeline Kane, Slade’s (ex-) wife. 

For all his pride, and all his confidence, Slade admitted (albeit only to himself) that Logan was the only one of his recruits that could have taken him in hand-to-hand combat. Who could argue with that? Slade watched Logan and his axe-crazy brother take bullets to the face time and time again without even flinching. But all of that was before the Weapon X program: while it gave Logan his claws, it made Slade ten times the man he was before. 

Jason gulped. “So, you won’t do it?”

“I never said that. What was the price again?”

“1.2 million,” Wyngarde said. “That was what we agreed on.”

“You didn’t tell me the details of the client,” Slade said. “I assumed this was just another mutant scumbag you wanted gone, maybe one of Magneto’s men.” He gulped the scotch down in a split-second, and chased it down with another. “4 million.”

Wyngarde scowled. “3 million.”

Slade shrugged. “Alright, I can do that.” He put the cap back on the whiskey, set the cup in the sink. “If you don’t mind me asking, what did this rat bastard ever do to you?”

Jason cleared his throat. “He and his cronies have been interfering in my operations for years. I figured taking out their leader would be justified retribution.”

Slade mulled over the fact that Cyclops, aka Scott Summers, was the leader of the X-Men, and not Logan. He chose not to mention this fact. 

“Where is he now?” Slade asked. “And how did you lose him?”

“After our last meeting at Stryker’s Island, he disappeared. No one knew where he went, not even his own team. We found him in Tokyo three days ago, with a woman named Mariko.”

Slade hummed. That name sounded familiar to him. “Family name?”

“Yashida.”

Slade gave Jason a Kubrick stare, and he remembered the origin of that name. “Mariko Yashida, daughter of Shingen Yashida?” Slade chuckled. “If I’m going to be taking on the Yashida clan...well, you better bump that price back up to 5 million.”

“4.5 million,” Wyngarde retorted. Slade said nothing. 

Shingen Yashida had been one of the few members of the League of Shadows to survive the training, become a top-ranking member, and walk away from it all. The only other three to do that were Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, and, well, himself. 

Rumors circulated that Shingen was still wandering around Asia, now with a suit of silver armor. Slade wasn’t sure he believed it. He’d never encountered this Mariko woman, but any Yashida was enough to give him pause. He better get paid for his troubles. 

“You know the deal,” Slade told him, setting his phone on the counter. “We pay before the mission starts.”

Jason scowled, his eyes narrowed. “Son, don’t give me that,” Slade told him, tapping the screen of his phone. “I’m not like Bullseye, or Bronze Tiger, or any of those lackeys. I’m the best of the best, and that’s why you came to me. Now pay up.”

Jason pulled out his own phone, and after the press of a button, Slade got a notification of a deposit in his account. 

Slade got on his feet, grabbing a coat off the nearby rack. “Any of the other X-Men with them in Tokyo.”

“None as far as we can tell,” Jason replied. “My spies tell me that it’s just him, Mariko and another mutant. Yukio.”

“Last name?”

“Doesn’t have one. Her X-gene gives her precognition, so if all three are traveling together, I urge you to be careful.”

Slade scoffed. “I’ve killed hundreds of girls like her, I’ll be fine.”

The older man threw on a pair of boots. “Give me a day to finish up some business here, and then I’ll head out, first flight to Tokyo.” He hesitated for a moment, looking Jason up and down. “Until then, get the fuck out of my house.”

Wyngarde approached the door, before quickly turning around. “If you don’t mind me asking, Slade...you said you saw the Wolverine take bullets to the face without flinching.”

Slade grunted. “That’s right.”

“I’ve seen him take a lot worse,” Wyngarde said, remembering his many encounters with the X-Men. “I’ve seen him get thrashed around like a ragdoll by Magneto and get up like it was nothing. I once saw him take a grenade to the face, and he only seemed annoyed. Those famous claws of his...they cut through steel like paper. How are you going to kill him?”

Slade thought of the worst jobs he’d done. This would surely top all of them. But if he could take on the Teen Titans at their prime, even with Starfire and the fucking Superboy in their ranks, he could take on an old war buddy of his. He sighed. 

“I guess I gotta find some Adamantium, now don’t I?”


End file.
